Newport co-ed cheerleading team is at center of Trump transgender athlete crackdown

 The campus of Nokomis Regional Middle School and Nokomis Regional High School is shown in Newport, Maine on Thursday Jan. 15. (Rich Abrahamson/Staff Photographer) One of the complaints that drove the Trump administration to launch an [investigation into a Maine school district](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/14/trump-administration-to-investigate-two-maine-districts-over-transgender-athlete-policies/) this week alleged that a transgender athlete is competing on a girls cheerleading team. But the superintendent of the school district at the center of the investigation said the team at issue is open to both boys and girls. “It’s a co-ed cheering team. Boys can join, girls can join. No one lost a place on the team because a transgender student joined,” said Michael Hammer, the superintendent of Newport-based Regional School Unit 19, which covers eight communities in Penobscot County.  The U.S. Department of Education’s [Office of Civil Rights said Wednesday](https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-educations-office-civil-rights-initiates-18-title-ix-investigations) that it had launched investigations into 18 educational organizations in 10 states because they are allowing transgender athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identity. The vast majority of the investigations target states led by Democrats. The Trump administrati... --- *Note: This is a summarized excerpt. Click the source link above to read the full story.*